Monessen native's son follows path to prestigious prep school

When Mike Bright was a senior at Monessen High School in 1988, he helped lead the Greyhounds to their first-ever PIAA basketball championship.

Even though at 6-5, he was a versatile player who could post up, shoot from the outside and thrill the crowd with high-flying slam dunks, Bright did not go straight from high school into the college ranks.

Instead, he spent a year at Fork Union Military Academy to mature not only as a player, but as a person.

From Fork Union, Bright went on to an outstanding career at Bucknell University, where he was a star for the Bison.

Today, Bright is CEO of the YMCA of Newark.

Bright has put a similar path for his oldest son, Debon, a 6-2 shooting guard who averaged close to 25 points per game during his senior year at DePaul Catholic High School in Wayne, N.J.

“There were a lot of D-II and D-III schools who wanted Debon right now, but we just felt that another year of preparing, both athletically and socially would be better form him,” Bright said.

Debon Bright will attend The Robinson School of New Jersey, which has won the prep national championship the last two years.

“It's a great program, a great school,” Bright said. “I look at it like this: If I had not gone to Fork Union for that one year out of high school, I don't think I could have ever accomplished what I did in college and then after that. That one year of prep school meant the world to me in terms of rounding myself out as a player and a person.”

While Debon Bright doesn't have his father's height, he has his game.

He played with the Wayne (N.J.) PAL Wolfpack, one of the nation's most prestigious AAU programs. The Wolfpack had a 57-15 record while playing in some of the top summer tournaments in the eastern United States.

“He did really well playing on a really good team. They won some tournaments and reached the semifinals in others,” Bright said. “He has college aspirations, no doubt.”

Debon also didn't have his dad's high school team success as a senior.

While the Greyhounds rolled to a state title, Debon's high school team had a rebuilding year in 2014-15. He was the only senior starter from a team that reached the Final Four in Passaic County during his junior season.

But while DePaul struggled, Bright did not. Despite getting double-teamed often, Bright responded with high games of 37, 33 and 32 points. He also averaged five rebounds per game as a guard.

Debon Bright isn't the only athlete Mike and his wife, Christinia, have produced.

He has two other sons, Michael Jr. and Marlen, who he expects to make names for themselves as well.

“Mike is 14 and he's 6-1 and is going to St. Anthony (N.J.) where he will play for Bob Hurley,” his father said. “Marlen is only in second grade, but everybody thinks he is fifth grade he is so big.”

He paused for a moment and added with a laugh, “Those two definitely will have my height.”

While the future is still being laid out for Debon and his brothers, if they follow anywhere near the path their dad did, the future is indeed “Bright” for all of them.

Jeff Oliver is a sports editor for Trib Total Media. He can be reached at 724-684-2666 or joliver@tribweb.com.